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Hospitality & Leisure Marketing BlogMon, 21 Jan 2019 10:00:07 +0000en-UShourly1https://i2.wp.com/leaddigital.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cropped-cropped-ld-avatar-03-white.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1LeadDigitalhttps://leaddigital.blog
3232138715212Closing the Loop with Paid Search: Linking the Right Message to the Right Audiencehttps://leaddigital.blog/closing-the-loop-with-paid-search-linking-the-right-message-to-the-right-audience/
https://leaddigital.blog/closing-the-loop-with-paid-search-linking-the-right-message-to-the-right-audience/#respondMon, 21 Jan 2019 10:00:07 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2052An End-to-End Approach Paid search gives advertisers the unique ability to send a large amount of qualified traffic to their web properties with just the flip of a switch. In the world of digital marketing, this is a powerful capability, but the speed with which paid search campaigns can be created can sometimes lead to … Continue reading "Closing the Loop with Paid Search: Linking the Right Message to the Right Audience"

An End-to-End Approach

Paid search gives advertisers the unique ability to send a large amount of qualified traffic to their web properties with just the flip of a switch. In the world of digital marketing, this is a powerful capability, but the speed with which paid search campaigns can be created can sometimes lead to strategies that overlook the importance of developing a coherent and audience-driven theme into the messaging used in every step of your account’s creation.

That is why it is so important to start every new paid search initiative with a careful consideration of who you will be targeting with your ads, and ultimately, the goals you have in mind for this traffic. By developing a solid understanding of these things, advertisers can begin building end-to-end messaging strategies that seamlessly carry your paid search strategy from your audience to your ads, and finally, through to your targeted landing page.

In this guide, we will walk you through the process of using the end goal of your campaign to reverse engineer your messaging and the audience you will need to leverage in order to support it, along with how you can use this process to develop a more cohesive strategy that maximizes the success you can expect from your paid search initiatives.

Understanding Your Goals

When building a paid search strategy, the first priority should always be to develop a solid understanding of what action you would like to drive on your site and how taking this action can benefit your targeted audience or persona. Are you trying to increase downloads of a gated asset? Perhaps you would like to drive more software demos for your sales team? In any case, take a look at your ultimate goal and put yourself into the shoes of someone who would benefit from taking this action. This will be your targeted persona. Ask yourself how this persona will ultimately benefit from taking this targeted action. Take this process a step further and consider what makes this specific persona unique. Do they have any challenges that your targeted offer helps address? Is there anything that may prevent them from taking action on your site? Using all of this knowledge, you can start to develop how you will target this audience as well as the messaging that you will be using. – Read more

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/closing-the-loop-with-paid-search-linking-the-right-message-to-the-right-audience/feed/02052Google Analytics: How to Track PayPal Transactionshttps://leaddigital.blog/google-analytics-how-to-track-paypal-transactions/
https://leaddigital.blog/google-analytics-how-to-track-paypal-transactions/#respondSun, 20 Jan 2019 10:00:35 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2048Merchants have many options for accepting online payments. “PayPal Payments Standard” is popular, but it can be challenging for Google Analytics to report the sale. Using PayPal Payments Standard, customers leave the merchant’s website for their account at PayPal. After they complete payment, customers are redirected by PayPal back to the URL provided by the … Continue reading "Google Analytics: How to Track PayPal Transactions"

]]>Merchants have many options for accepting online payments. “PayPal Payments Standard” is popular, but it can be challenging for Google Analytics to report the sale.

Using PayPal Payments Standard, customers leave the merchant’s website for their account at PayPal. After they complete payment, customers are redirected by PayPal back to the URL provided by the merchant.

There are two issues that can impact reporting in Google Analytics from this process.

First, the customer may not make it back to the merchant’s order confirmation page to trigger ecommerce reporting in Google Analytics. If the return URL is not set properly, the customer may not go back at all or may go back to the merchant’s home page or some other page. None will trigger the Google Analytics ecommerce code. A correct return URL will send the customer back to the order confirmation page, and the Google Analytics ecommerce code fires upon arrival.

This return URL is typically provided by the ecommerce platform in the payment settings. In PayPal, the return URL settings reside behind the gear icon in the top-right after logging in. – Read more

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/google-analytics-how-to-track-paypal-transactions/feed/02048How to Get Started with Remarketing on Google Ads & Facebookhttps://leaddigital.blog/how-to-get-started-with-remarketing-on-google-ads-facebook/
https://leaddigital.blog/how-to-get-started-with-remarketing-on-google-ads-facebook/#respondSat, 19 Jan 2019 10:00:35 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2045For those of us who work in digital advertising, any chance we have to make our online strategic approach more successful is much appreciated. Using remarketing (a.k.a., retargeting) is that chance. It is a second chance to advertise, an opportunity to cross-sell or an opportunity to nurture your audience with your content marketing efforts. Inversely, … Continue reading "How to Get Started with Remarketing on Google Ads & Facebook"

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/how-to-get-started-with-remarketing-on-google-ads-facebook/feed/02045Demystifying Google’s guide to clicks, impressions and position in Google Search Consolehttps://leaddigital.blog/demystifying-googles-guide-to-clicks-impressions-and-position-in-google-search-console/
https://leaddigital.blog/demystifying-googles-guide-to-clicks-impressions-and-position-in-google-search-console/#respondFri, 18 Jan 2019 10:00:46 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2042Here are the answers to the most common questions asked about managing metrics in the Performance reporting in GSC. Google Search Console is packed with important information for site owners and SEOs. Via GSC, Google has done a great job providing reporting and functionality that can help you diagnose problems, understand your organic search traffic, … Continue reading "Demystifying Google’s guide to clicks, impressions and position in Google Search Console"

Here are the answers to the most common questions asked about managing metrics in the Performance reporting in GSC.

Google Search Console is packed with important information for site owners and SEOs. Via GSC, Google has done a great job providing reporting and functionality that can help you diagnose problems, understand your organic search traffic, test your site and more.

That said, there are some confusing things that you can come across while traversing the reporting in GSC, and that’s especially the case for those new to SEO. One example is the Performance reporting, which used to be called Search Analytics. The Performance reporting provides a ton of information about your organic search traffic, including queries leading to your site, landing pages ranking in Search, the click-through rate (CTR) for queries and landing pages, average position for queries ranking in Google and more. It’s a powerful report that I’m often analyzing.

While helping clients with SEO, I’ve found some of the metrics could be confusing. For example, it’s extremely important to understand what constitutes an impression and click, and how Google calculates position for queries and landing pages. After speaking with many clients about their own reporting, it’s clear there needed to be a guide for how this works.

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/demystifying-googles-guide-to-clicks-impressions-and-position-in-google-search-console/feed/02042Setting Up Your Email Campaigns for 2019 Successhttps://leaddigital.blog/setting-up-your-email-campaigns-for-2019-success/
https://leaddigital.blog/setting-up-your-email-campaigns-for-2019-success/#respondThu, 17 Jan 2019 10:00:14 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2039Whether you’re aiming for an ambitious career goal or vowing to eat more vegetables, the new year means new opportunities to better ourselves — and the same holds true for your email campaigns. Here are five resolutions to set your email campaigns up for success. 1. Clean up your lists January is the perfect time … Continue reading "Setting Up Your Email Campaigns for 2019 Success"

Whether you’re aiming for an ambitious career goal or vowing to eat more vegetables, the new year means new opportunities to better ourselves — and the same holds true for your email campaigns.

Here are five resolutions to set your email campaigns up for success.

1. Clean up your lists
January is the perfect time to step up your list hygiene. Segmenting your unengaged contacts is key to improving deliverability.

Review your open rates and identify contacts who haven’t opened your last 20+ sends. The length of time they’ve been away will determine your next steps. Has it been 90 days or less? Run them through a reengagement campaign, making sure to scale back your normal email cadence. On the other hand, if they’ve gone two years with no opens, it’s time to unsubscribe them for good.

2. Review your automated marketing campaigns
Automated campaigns like abandoned cart emails, browse abandonment emails, and post-purchase series are easy to “set and forget.” However, even your best-performing campaigns have a shelf life — typically around 12 to 18 months.

The new year is a great opportunity to assess these campaigns and run through a checklist of the basics. Are your email templates mobile-optimized? Could the subject lines or cadence of your emails improve? Have you personalized your content wherever possible? Your campaigns may just need a refresh to start generating results.

3. Test new optimization strategies
Just like your own resolutions, small changes to your email messages often have the biggest impact. Plan to A/B test at least one form of optimization — this may include the subject line, send time, content, or personalization. Depending on the campaign’s goals, focus on one metric to track, such as: – read more

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/setting-up-your-email-campaigns-for-2019-success/feed/02039How to Find New Placements to Target on the Google Ads Display Networkhttps://leaddigital.blog/how-to-find-new-placements-to-target-on-the-google-ads-display-network/
https://leaddigital.blog/how-to-find-new-placements-to-target-on-the-google-ads-display-network/#respondWed, 16 Jan 2019 10:00:35 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2036I miss the Display Planner. It was one of my favorite tools in the old AdWords interface. When Google decided to remove the tool from Google Ads, PPC marketers lost a valuable asset for planning out display campaigns. While I still want the tool back, we can create successful managed placement campaigns in Google Ads. It just takes a … Continue reading "How to Find New Placements to Target on the Google Ads Display Network"

I miss the Display Planner. It was one of my favorite tools in the old AdWords interface. When Google decided to remove the tool from Google Ads, PPC marketers lost a valuable asset for planning out display campaigns.

While I still want the tool back, we can create successful managed placement campaigns in Google Ads. It just takes a little bit more work on our end. (Thanks Google!) Here are a few tactics I use for finding new placements to target.

Look at What Traffic Is Already Working

I love talking about how Google Analytics can usually answer the question, “Who should I target first?” This post is no exception. Whenever I get the opportunity to set up my first display campaign in an account, one of the first places I like to look is the Referrals report in Google Analytics. The Referrals report lives under the Acquisition > All Traffic portion of Google Analytics. Typically, I like to sort by most conversions (or revenue for ecommerce businesses) to see which referral sources are sending quality traffic to my site. – Read more

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/how-to-find-new-placements-to-target-on-the-google-ads-display-network/feed/02036Google AdWords Express is Now Part of Google Adshttps://leaddigital.blog/google-adwords-express-is-now-part-of-google-ads/
https://leaddigital.blog/google-adwords-express-is-now-part-of-google-ads/#respondTue, 15 Jan 2019 10:00:02 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2033Google is notifying advertisers that AdWords Express has joined the Google Ads platform. AdWords Express campaigns are now available in Google Ads as ‘Smart’ campaigns. Previously, AdWords Express was a standalone solution, designed to be a lower maintenance option for small businesses. Now, Smart campaigns still have all the same benefits as AdWords Express campaigns, but with … Continue reading "Google AdWords Express is Now Part of Google Ads"

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/google-adwords-express-is-now-part-of-google-ads/feed/020333 Essential Web Design Trends in 2019https://leaddigital.blog/3-essential-web-design-trends-in-2019/
https://leaddigital.blog/3-essential-web-design-trends-in-2019/#respondMon, 14 Jan 2019 10:00:25 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2030New year, new design trends! While everyone is talking about big-picture trends such as designing for voice and virtual reality, there are more immediate design elements that you can see (and deploy) right now for a more on-trend website. From websites without images above the scroll, to ecommerce that disguises itself as content, to bright … Continue reading "3 Essential Web Design Trends in 2019"

While everyone is talking about big-picture trends such as designing for voice and virtual reality, there are more immediate design elements that you can see (and deploy) right now for a more on-trend website.

From websites without images above the scroll, to ecommerce that disguises itself as content, to bright blue everything, here’s a look at what’s trending this month.

1. No “Art” Above the Scroll

Have you noticed how many websites don’t have images or video above the scroll? This no “art” design style used to be reserved for coming soon or construction pages that didn’t have images, but it’s trending even for website designs with plenty of other imagery.

If you have a message or statement that is the most important thing for users to know right away, this can be an effective design technique. It works because there’s nothing else to see. (Unless the user refuses to read the words and abandons the design, which can be a risk with this style.)

Make the most of a no art design with beautiful typography and strong color choices.

These design elements can serve as art on their own and help add visual interest to the words on the screen.

Each of the three examples below does this in a slightly different way.

We Are Crowd uses a strong serif-sans serif typography pair on a bright colored background. Users are enticed to delve into the design thanks to an animated scroller on the homepage. The no “art” design actually alternates between image and non-image panels, showing users there is something to look at. – Read more

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/3-essential-web-design-trends-in-2019/feed/020309 Tips for Creating Your Best SEO Content in 2019https://leaddigital.blog/9-tips-for-creating-your-best-seo-content-in-2019/
https://leaddigital.blog/9-tips-for-creating-your-best-seo-content-in-2019/#respondSun, 13 Jan 2019 10:00:50 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2027In 2019, SEO content will be all about the audience. If you’re looking to improve your content marketing and see real ROI, you have to use practices that will really benefit them. Content that’s highly ranked, that drives traffic and leads is always user-focused, first and foremost. That’s why today’s tips for SEO content in … Continue reading "9 Tips for Creating Your Best SEO Content in 2019"

If you’re looking to improve your content marketing and see real ROI, you have to use practices that will really benefit them.

Content that’s highly ranked, that drives traffic and leads is always user-focused, first and foremost.

That’s why today’s tips for SEO content in 2019 all point back to your reader, A.K.A. the V.I.P. and M.V.P. you need to know and understand to get it right.

Because, when you write to the right people in the right way, your writing and content will climb higher.

9 Keys for Creating Your Best SEO Content in 2019

Ready?

Here are my nine top tips for helping you create your best (most-read, most-shared, and most valuable) content this year and beyond.

1. Write to the Right People with Targeted Keywords

Your SEO content won’t reach the right people if you fail to optimize it with targeted keywords.

What do I mean by “targeted keywords”?

These are key terms and phrases for which your audience niche is actively searching.

To find these terms, you must first understand:

Who your audience segments are.

What kind of information they need.

Why they need that information.

Which keywords they’re using to find it.

This may seem like a lot, but it really isn’t if you break it down into a few activities:

Audience research: Identify the type of audience you think wants/needs what you offer. Then, go find where they congregate online. Talk to them. Survey them. Figure out their personal habits, preferences, demographics, and stats. (Marketing Land has a good guide on this process.)

]]>https://leaddigital.blog/9-tips-for-creating-your-best-seo-content-in-2019/feed/02027Google Ad Impressions on Connected TVs Up by Over 80%https://leaddigital.blog/google-ad-impressions-on-connected-tvs-up-by-over-80/
https://leaddigital.blog/google-ad-impressions-on-connected-tvs-up-by-over-80/#respondSat, 12 Jan 2019 10:00:32 +0000https://leaddigital.blog/?p=2023Google’s efforts to expand advertising to TV screens led to an 80% increase in impressions in 2018. To build on this momentum, Google has announced a number of initiatives planned for 2019 to further the convergence of TV and digital advertising. Google Ads During Commercial Breaks Google will continue to work with its TV partners to build … Continue reading "Google Ad Impressions on Connected TVs Up by Over 80%"